The Olympic 1500m bronze medallist will race over 5km at Battersea Park on New Year’s Eve
At the Diamond League final in Brussels, Georgia Bell indicated that her season was finished.
“That’s a wrap, it’s my 27th race of the year,” she told AW, after completing the 800m/1500m double at Memorial Van Damme.
The 30-year-old clocked 1:57.94 in the 800m to finish second behind world champion Mary Moraa and then ran 3:58.95 a day later in the 1500m.
It was the culmination of a long and remarkable season, which started out with Bell sending emails to meet directors, hoping she’d be able to showcase her value in a fast field.
By the end of August, she was a UK indoor and outdoor 1500m champion, secured a European silver medal and then claimed Olympic bronze in a British record of 3:52.61.
Georgia Bell, Keely Hodgkinson and Jemma Reekie (Getty)
Over the past month Bell, under the stewardship of Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows at M11 Track Club, has continued to work on her craft in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Alongside the likes of Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson and 4x400m bronze medallist Lewis Davey, the Brit is now building up her base for the 2025 season.
However, there is still room for one more event this year, with Bell competing over 5km at the Podium 5k event in Battersea on December 31.
Incredibly, it will be her 28th race of a historic season.
Bell boasts a personal best of 16:34 over 5km, although she has gone much quicker on the track (15:35.24) and in parkrun (16:14).
If conditions are good in Battersea, she will therefore be aiming to take a sizeable chunk off her quickest 5km mark, which will no doubt help her endurance in the middle distances.
Georgia Bell (Getty)
Bell, who used to work 10-hour days in cybersecurity but is now a professional athlete, has big ambitions next season.
She told AW in Brussels that “I want to see what I can do with a couple of years being full-time”, adding “I’m really excited for next year and there’s still a lot we can add in and improve on”.
Her tale is one of extraordinary perseverance, self-belief and trusting those who believe in the bigger picture.
A prodigious youngster, Bell was English Schools 800m champion in 2008 and the future looked bright.
Georgia Bell in 2008 (Mark Shearman)
However, injuries during her time at the University of California caused her to lose passion for the sport.
Inspired by the Tokyo Olympics, she decided to give running another chance and that 16:14 parkrun in 2022 proved to Bell that she had unfinished business within the sport.
As a result, she phoned up Painter, who was her old coach, and the rest is history.
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